Blogs

Our blogs provide fresh, impassioned and authoritative commentary and insight about the variety of civil-liberties issues that the ACLU of Michigan takes up each day in our courts, governments and communities.

Get Involved

With the help of dedicated volunteers and community activists, the ACLU of Michigan works to raise awareness about the importance of preserving the individual rights and liberties that are guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Get Help

The ACLU of Michigan is one of more than 50 affiliates in the United States. As such, we encourage you to know as much as possible about your civil liberties. Further, if you feel those liberties have been violated, we suggest you submit a complaint. We only accept complaints that occur within the State of Michigan. If your complaint arose in a state other than Michigan, you must contact the ACLU office in that state.

About Us

Since our founding in 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union has led the fight to conserve our most precious liberties. Through the passion of our supporters, we have grown from a roomful of civil liberties activists to an organization of more than 500,000 active members and supporters with 54 state affiliate offices as well as a legislative office in Washington, DC.

Legislating Behind Closed Doors

In an event that is believed to be unprecedented in Michigan history, public access to the Capitol building was closed off on Dec. 6, 2012 just as a highly controversial right-to-work law was being introduced. For over four hours, members of the public—including union members, journalists, lobbyists, and other concerned citizens—were prevented from going inside as debates were occurring and votes were cast.

Although law enforcement claimed that protesters had caused overcrowding, video and photographic evidence showed that there was plenty of room inside.

It was later discovered that Republican legislative staffers were ordered to occupy seats in the public galleries to make sure that union members and other interested citizens could not attend. Working with a coalition of labor unions, the ACLU of Michigan filed a lawsuit in January 2013 based on the legislature’s violation of the Open Meetings Act, which requires all public bodies in Michigan to deliberate and cast votes in open sessions that are accessible to the public.

The Ingham County Circuit Court denied the state’s motion to dismiss the case in 2013, and the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected the state’s application for an immediate appeal, allowing the ACLU’s claims to go forward. Unfortunately, after the case was transferred to the Michigan Court of Claims, the court granted summary disposition to the state in February 2015, ruling that there was not enough evidence of an Open Meetings Act violation for the case to proceed to trial.